Craig Smith • Derry Member

Editor’s Note: On the first Thursday of each month (or close to it), the eNews feature article highlights the mission focus for the month. In October we’re lifting up feeding those who are hungry.

During the COVID pandemic Derry Church, through the Mission & Peace Committee, provided additional funding to our non-profit partners’ Feeding the Hungry programs.  Here are two of the organizations Derry generously supported with additional funding this past year:

Central Pennsylvania Food Bank

Food shouldn’t be an impossible choice.  For many, a daily meal is just a choice of what to eat for dinner.  For those facing hunger, a daily meal poses a very different type of choice. It is often an impossible choice between food and other critical needs such as utilities, housing or medicine. How will you choose to end hunger?

The Central Pennsylvania Food Bank is the primary supplier of food and nutrition programs to many of our non-profit partners. Derry Church provided $10,000 in additional funding to the Food Bank, and church members volunteered to pack food boxes during the pandemic.  

Downtown Daily Bread

Downtown Daily Bread (DDB) is a mission project of the Pine Street Presbyterian Church in downtown Harrisburg. For 88 years, DDB has been a gateway to basic human services for hundreds of homeless and hungry individuals in Harrisburg. DDB offers a Soup Kitchen with weekday breakfasts and daily lunch meals; a Day Shelter with cots, computers, phones, and staff counselors; a winter season Night Shelter for men, and numerous assistance programs such as showers, lockers, mail delivery, laundry cards, vouchers for photo IDs, clothing, and other personal hygiene items.

In 2020, the Soup Kitchen prepared and served 11,465 breakfasts and 34,218 lunches. On an average day, 19 people come for showers, 61 people pick up mail, and 40 people check in to receive assistance at the Day Shelter. From December 1 to March 31, 28 men found winter overnight shelter every evening. Bag meals continued throughout the COVID pandemic, and after modifications to the facility, in-person meals and services resumed.

Derry Church provided $10,000 in additional funding to support COVID related building modifications and Day Shelter HVAC upgrades. Church members continued to volunteer in the soup kitchen throughout the pandemic.